_A place for gold where they fine it._ REFINING THE GOLD “There is a place for the gold where they fine it.” This line from the Book of Job--so strong in its monosyllables--describes a spiritual as well as a chemical process. Over and over again in the Bible godly character is described by the happ... [ Continue Reading ]
_And it hath dust of gold._ HOW TO TURN EVERYTHING TO GOLD This chapter in Job describes with all a poet’s force and beauty the miner’s life in its loneliness, its dangers, and its triumphs. In those old days men endured the toil, and faced the dangers, to win the hidden gold, or precious stones. A... [ Continue Reading ]
_His eye seeth every precious thing._ EVERY PRECIOUS THING These words refer to the miner who digs for the treasure hidden in the earth. He finds the vein of silver, and the place for the gold. But if man’s eye sees the precious things, let us think how God sees them. I. He sees the promise and po... [ Continue Reading ]
_The thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light._ THE RELIGIOUS USES AND LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE I. The religious uses of science. “The thing that is hid man bringeth forth to light.” Some think there is nothing but antagonism between science and religion. It is obvious that the science which tra... [ Continue Reading ]
_But where shall wisdom be found?_ THE SPECULATIVE DIFFICULTIES OF AN INQUIRING INTELLECT SOLVED BY THE HEART OF PRACTICAL PIETY Two things are prominently developed in this chapter--Man’s power and his weakness; his power to supply the material necessities of his nature, and his weakness to suppl... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the crystal cannot equal it._ THE CRYSTAL EXACT In the first place I remark that religion is superior to the crystal in exactness. That shapeless mass of crystal against which you accidentally dashed your foot is laid out with more exactness than any earthly city. There are six styles of cryst... [ Continue Reading ]
_Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living._ MYSTERY AND DOGMA It is the dogmatism of science that stands in the way of the much-needed reconciliation, even more than the dogmatism of theology. Nothing is so hostile to mystery as dogmatism. The sense of mystery is the sense of vastness, indefin... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom._ THE WISDOM OF BEING RELIGIOUS “To fear the Lord” and to “depart from evil” are phrases which the Scripture useth in a very great latitude to express to us the sum of religion and the whole of our duty. I. It is usual to express the whole of religion... [ Continue Reading ]